Alternatives to Suicide UK Update: Midsummer news.
Summer Solstice Chant – Annie Finch
The sun, rich and open,
stretches and pours on the bloom of our work.
In the center of the new flowers,
a darker wing of flower points you like a fire.
Point your fire like a flower.
I hope everyone reading this is doing ok, I thought I would drop in to share some news and information on all things Alternatives to Suicide.
Our group is starting to settle in to a good rapport with a mix of regulars and newer folx showing up too. The depth snd breadth of conversation about suicide has really moved me. Members are sharing books, support org links, tips about mutual aid too. Thank you so much to everyone who has joined in or supported the group, including our European members, we are continental now.
I got the chance to attend my co facilitator Nancy’s own chronic suicidality support group. They meet on a Monday 7pm Carolina time, which was midnight my time! Everyone was very kind to me given how ghostly pale I looked in my desk lamp light with my silly British accent (caption jokes were made and enjoyed.) Being invited along gave me insight into how much we have in common, wherever we are in the world, regardless of the health system context, when we talk about suicide openly and with Alt2sui values, we can understand and support each other.
June has been the run up to the UK elections and mental health (and suicide specifically) has been absent from the larger debate. Devastating news of a cover up of the suicides of children denied gender affirming care in the UK emerged from the Good Law Project but gained very little press coverage in the UK. I can only imagine the magnitude that the loss of these children represents, these lives that deserved care so they could flourish, the devastation that these families must feel. My own feeling is that trans lives are precious and I want to do all I can to be an useful ally so our children can live long, happy lives. Pride month celebrations have reminded me of our collective strength, dignity and power.
I am working on collating a list of peer and non medical respite spaces in the UK. This is turning out to be quite a task as many respite and crisis houses still use the local mental health services to triage people. Add that the to strict criteria, confusing information on to access the services, it’s a lot to navigate and I’m not even in crisis! I shall carry on collating this list but it has inspired me to create an Alt2sui resource library for group members.
Nancy, Lisa Marie and myself are looking to the Autumn, we are discussing the possibility of creative projects to give a platform to group members experiences with Alternatives to Suicide – with a view to sharing it during Suicide Prevention Day on Septenber 10th and World Mental Health Awareness Week. Watch this space!
On a group members recommendation, I am reading Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna- Samarasinha and I keep stopping to jot down things to look up or simply to cry for a bit. I will leave you with this. May we all find the good kind of healing, maybe be that healing for each other and with each other.
Everyone I know longs for healing. It’s just hard to get. The good kind of healing: healing that is affordable, has childcare and no stairs, doesn’t misgender us or disrespect our disabilities or sex work, believes us when we’re hurt and listens when we say what we need, understands that we are the first and last authority on our own bodies and minds. Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice